More Than Skin Deep
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - NS - Sort of a post-ep to "Crow's Feet". What would you do if someone thought you were the most beautiful woman they'd ever known?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, I'd love to have coffee with George and Jorja...maybe I'll just send them a Starbucks card and call it good.

**Author's Note:** This is sort of a post-ep of "Crow's Feet". Poor Nick had to put up with all of Catherine's insecurities; I just wondered what might be going through his mind afterwards.

* * *

It was a position Nick was sure that no guy wanted to be in because it seemed that no matter what you said, it was called into question. He shook his head in disbelief as he headed down the hallway of the lab towards the locker room. He and Catherine had just wrapped up a case and throughout the investigation she had worn her doubt and insecurity about her appearance on her sleeve. He just couldn't understand how a woman as beautiful as Catherine could question her value based on her outer appearance. Didn't she know that men looked beyond the exterior to what was inside, well at least men that were worth having? He and Warrick had engaged in numerous conversations about their two beautiful coworkers, neither of which seemed to understand where their true beauty lay.

Sara glanced up as Nick entered the locker room and a tired smile spread across her face. "Hey."

He grinned at her. "Hey, yourself." There was just something about her that he found infinitely attractive. He wondered to himself how Sara might have reacted if she had been the one to work the case with him instead of Catherine. He wondered if she would question her value and if she would compare herself to the hoards of women that had flocked to plastic surgeons and spa treatments in search of a more youthful appearance.

"Heard about your case." Sara furrowed her brow as she pulled her jacket out of her locker and shut the door before turning to face him. "Pretty strange what people are willing to do to try and stay looking young."

"You got that right." Nick rolled his eyes as he opened his own locker.

Sara pushed her lower lip out slightly as she seemed to be deep in thought. "Still, I can understand why when people place so much value on it." Her expression reflected the inner gears of her mind trying to align her thoughts.

"Then they're putting value on the wrong things." Nick's tone was soft. He had seen too many women who by anyone's standards were drop dead gorgeous spending far too much time on the superficial rather than nurturing what was inside of them. It was strange to him. He had seen several of his own sisters fall into the trap of chasing youth, and strangely it was those who simply accepted aging as a part of life and were comfortable in their own skin that he thought were most beautiful.

Sara let out a scoff unintentionally. "They're doing it for men."

Nick furrowed his brow and then shook his head. "I don't agree. I think they're doing it because they think that's what men want. A real man wants a real woman, someone who is comfortable in her own skin, not someone who sees the need to constantly change it."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at him. "So what you're saying is that given the chance to go out with Miss Texas or Plain Jane, you'd pick Plain Jane?" She obviously didn't believe him.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not going to say that I'm not attracted to outer beauty, Sara, but after spending a few minutes with someone if there isn't anything that goes deeper than that, I'm not going to waste my time." He'd had his share of shallow women, but ever since Kristy Hopkins murder, he'd taken a step back and evaluated what it was he was really looking for in a woman and most of the women he encountered in clubs just didn't measure up, they were all more interested in how he looked and how they looked than in who he was and what he cared about. He needed more than that.

Sara smirked.

Nick pulled his jacket out of his locker and closed the door, turning to look at Sara again. He decided to take a different approach to the conversation. "Have you ever seen the Hope Diamond?"

Sara looked at him curiously. "Yeah, I saw it when I visited the Natural History Museum in DC when I lived in Boston. My friends and I took a road trip down there during Spring Break and spent a couple of days going through all the Smithsonian museums."

"Do you know how it ended up there?" Nick looked at her expectantly.

She rolled her eyes. "I assume that someone donated it."

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "True, but do you know how it was sent?"

Sara shrugged her shoulders.

"Harry Winston sent it to the Smithsonian Institutes in a brown paper wrapper through the US Mail." Nick concluded.

Sara's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding."

Nick shook his head. "Nope. True story."

"Who in the world would send something that valuable through the US Mail?" Sara was incredulous.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Maybe that's what Harry Winston was counting on. He was the only one who knew that inside that brown paper wrapper was a 45.52 carat diamond." He looked at her for a long moment.

Sara shook her head and smirked. "You're trying to make a point here, aren't you?"

"All I'm trying to say is that no one should judge the value or the beauty of another person based solely on their outward appearance." He smiled at her softly. "Do you know who I think the third most beautiful woman in the world is?"

Sara rolled her eyes. "Who?"

"My eight-five year old grandmother." Nick smiled genuinely.

Sara chuckled softly.

"Do you know who I think the second most beautiful woman in the world is?" Nick continued with an impish smile.

"Your mother." Sara answered logically.

"Yes." Nick grinned and then looked at Sara intently. "Do you know who I think the most beautiful woman in the world is?"

Sara crossed her arms over her chest, expecting him to give the name of a supermodel or actress. "Who?"

His voice was soft and his smile a bit nervous. "You."

Sara's eyes widened in surprise and a faint hue of pink infused her cheeks.

Nick leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever known." Nick smiled at her as he stepped away and then turned and headed out of the locker room intent on going home and getting some sleep.

Sara just stared after him, her hand on her cheek, completely speechless.

_**The Beginning?**_


	2. Chapter 2

Sara's mind was spinning. Nick's words had left her in a daze and as she continued to stare at the doorway she tried to rationalize whether what he said was real or if she had just imagined it. She was still standing there with a bewildered expression on her face when Catherine sauntered into the locker room.

The veteran CSI took in Sara's expression and cleared her throat, concern flitting across her face. "Sara?" Catherine's voice just barely pierced the fog that surrounded Sara's mind. Catherine took another step towards Sara and spoke in a motherly tone. "Sara, are you ok?"

Sara snapped out of her reverie and looked in Catherine's direction, wondering to herself just how long she'd been standing there staring off into space. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You must have had some case." Catherine was fishing to see if she could figure out what had her normally unflappable colleague in such a state.

Sara furrowed her brows together. It took her a moment to even remember her case and as she did, she pasted what she hoped looked like a smile on her face. "Bugs, lots of bugs."

Catherine nodded, both brows curving upwards. "Better bugs than Botox." Catherine could not get the case she and Nick worked on out of her mind. She was used to people responding to her beauty and as she saw younger and younger women garnering the attention of men that used to turn their heads at her she faltered. "What people do to stay young and beautiful." There was a bit of resignation in her tone. "With a few more zeros at the end of my paycheck and I might just join them."

Sara looked at Catherine as if she was out of her mind. How in the world a woman who looked a good ten years younger than she was and who never seemed to lack for suitors thought she needed improvement was beyond Sara. "Hmm."

Catherine opened her locker to retrieve her jacket and regarded Sara for a moment. She wished that she had the self assured confidence of her younger coworker. She hadn't had to rely on her looks to get ahead in life, but as Catherine mentally calculated what a makeover would do she realized that Sara probably could have gotten by on her looks if she'd wanted to. She furrowed her brow once again. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Uh, yeah." Sara nodded and then reached to close her locker door before realizing that she already had. She quickly glanced at Catherine. "I need to go."

Without another word, she turned and headed out of the locker room and into the hallway. As she walked towards the front door of the lab she had a vague recollection that someone was saying goodbye to her and so she had lifted her hand in a halfhearted wave.

When she stepped out into the parking lot, the morning sun seeming extra bright after working the nightshift, she slid her sunglasses on and then glanced around realizing that Nick had probably been gone a while, especially since she wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been standing in the locker room before Catherine had walked in.

His words echoed in her mind again as she climbed behind the wheel of her Denali and she shook her head in disbelief. Had he really said that he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known? Beautiful was not a word that she'd heard directed at her very often. Grissom had said it once when he'd mentioned that he thought baseball was a beautiful game and she'd asked him when he had become interested in beauty. His simple remark that it had been since he'd met her had given her a strand of hope to cling to and build her affection upon. In retrospect she could see that regardless of how Grissom might have felt about her, he was either unwilling or incapable of acting on any feelings he might have had for her. Pinning her hopes on that one comment had resulted in her heart being broken in countless pieces.

As she drove, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, so it came as a bit of a surprise to her that instead of pulling into the parking garage of her apartment complex she was pulling up to the curb in front of Nick's house. She sat there for a long moment before she turned the ignition off and descended from the vehicle.

She strode purposefully up the walkway, a plan formulating in her mind as she approached the front door. She needed to know if Nick had meant what he said; the last thing she wanted was to pin her hopes on a compliment and end up with another broken heart.

She stopped in front of the door and took a couple of deep breaths before she lifted her hand and knocked. After waiting what felt like an eternity, she knocked again, silently wondering if she should just go home and just talk to him before the next shift.

When the door finally opened, Sara was a bit startled and she jumped slightly, suddenly unsure of what she was doing there. Again the question came to her mind whether she had only imagined what Nick had said to her in the locker room.

Nick regarded Sara's silence and her bewildered expression with a hint of a smile. "Sara." For some reason he wasn't really surprised to see her standing there on his doorstep. He had anticipated that she would either ignore what he'd said to her in the locker room or that she'd show up on his doorstep and demand an explanation; a speechless Sara, however, wasn't what he'd expected.

When Sara finally found her words, she had a slight waver to her voice. "Why?"

Nick's eyebrow arched upward in curiosity.

She closed her eyes to concentrate for a moment and then steeled herself as she opened them. "You." Her throat felt dry. "I mean. The Hope Diamond." She looked at him as if pleading for him to understand what she was trying to say. "Why?"

Nick tried to restrain his smile at how one sentence had seemed to unravel Sara. "I meant what I said."

Sara's eyes widened. "I didn't imagine it." Somewhere in the back of her mind she was thankful that normal speech had finally returned.

Nick shook his head, his smile widening. "No, you didn't imagine it." He studied her face. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever known, and the longer I know you, the more beautiful you are to me."

Sara felt her cheeks burning as she furrowed her brow. "Why?" She really couldn't fathom why of all the women he had known that she was the most beautiful to him.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Because you're you." He let out a sigh as he watched her face. "I wish you could see what I see." He felt a pang of sadness that she couldn't seem to comprehend what an amazing woman she was.

Sara looked at him for a moment and suddenly she knew what she had come there for. She stepped forward, cupping his cheeks in her hands and kissed him for all she was worth. Before he had a chance to fully respond, Sara stepped away, a smile widening into a grin as she saw the dumbfounded expression developing on Nick's face. "Ok, I'll see you tonight then."

Nick looked at her in confusion, the kiss having short circuited his ability to speak.

She tried to restrain a giggle and stepped forward, placing a chaste kiss against his lips. She whispered and looked into his eyes as she stepped away. "At work." She turned and walked towards her vehicle, glancing back at him and winking as she climbed into the SUV.

Nick was standing there with a dopey grin on his face, still not having said a word as Sara drove off in her Denali.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Sara arrived at work that night, enough self doubt had crept in that she was nervous about seeing Nick. The thought had occurred to her that she might have seriously overstepped her bounds by kissing him like that. He might have told her that he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known, but it wasn't exactly a declaration of love. Or was it?

There was a part of her that was looking forward to seeing him, but there was another part of her that was dreading it. In fact about five minutes after she'd driven away from Nick's house the doubts had begun. Only the look that he'd had on his face had kept her from completely wallowing in doubt; he had looked surprised to be sure, but he'd also looked quite pleased.

A tiny smile played at Sara's lips as she stood in front of her locker and opened it so she could hang up her jacket. As she reached for her ID badge, she heard someone else enter the room and as she glanced up, she felt as if her heart had done a triple flip.

Nick grinned. "Hey." There was so much that he wanted to say to her and yet he wasn't sure where to start or if he really had enough time. Her kiss had sent him spinning into outer orbit and by the time he'd come back to earth, she had been gone for a good five or ten minutes. He had lain awake for several hours, dopey grin still in place, as he thought about how sharing one sentence with her had changed everything.

Sara swallowed hard and her cheeks hurt from the grin that had taken over her face. "Hey."

Neither one of them said anything for a very long moment as they just continued to stare at each other. Finally, they both started to laugh from the awkward tension in the room.

Sara was the first to speak. "So, I was thinking." Sara cleared her throat again not quite looking at Nick. "I mean, I've given some thought to what happened, what I did, and I wanted to know, no, what I need to know is if that was ok." She looked into his eyes, her insecurity dangerously close to the surface. She valued Nick's friendship over anything else that might lie between them and she wanted to make sure that she hadn't done something to damage it. When Nick didn't say anything immediately, she continued talking, feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Because if I've stepped over the line."

Nick stopped her in the middle of her sentence by placing a finger against her lips. A smile spread across his face and he was looking at her intently. "It was more than ok."

Color infused Sara's cheeks and she began to smile nervously as Nick pulled his finger away from her lips. "Oh." She still couldn't believe that she had been so bold as to just show up on his doorstep and kiss him.

Nick raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Are you ok with it?" He hoped that she was. His declaration that he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known had been a step in a very deliberate direction that he'd been contemplating for some time. The catalyst that had set it in motion had been the case that he'd worked on with Catherine. He found Sara utterly fascinating and infinitely irresistible. When she had kissed him, hope had surfaced that she might actually feel for him what he felt for her.

Sara nodded; her voice a whisper. "Yes." After what did and didn't happen between her and Grissom, she had thought for a long time that a workplace romance would be a bad idea, but Nick made her want to reevaluate that. There was something so genuine about him that she wanted to trust him with her heart. He had been her friend for four years and he'd never given her a reason not to trust him, but it was still scary.

"Good." If Nick could see his own face, he would have reasoned that his smile couldn't possibly stretch any further.

Sara felt a wave of nervousness wash over her again and she began to speak to break the silence that had fallen between them again as they had continued smiling at each other. She looked away. "So, what exactly are we going to do here?" Her cheeks felt hot and she considered that maybe she should have come to work late and avoided this conversation. "I mean, I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I'm confused." She furrowed her brow. There was really no reason that she should be confused if she stepped back and examined the evidence, but the last time she'd made assumptions, she'd assumed incorrectly, in fact, she seemed to have a track record when it came to personal relationships of making the wrong assumptions.

Nick stepped towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. His voice was a soft whisper, but he still had a smile on his face. "Sara, you're beautiful to me."

Her eyes snapped to his. "You said that." Fear and insecurity were swinging like a pendulum in her eyes. She wanted desperately to believe him, but she just wasn't used to being treated the way she knew that a woman should be treated.

Nick nodded and reached up and tucked an errant curl behind her ear. "Yeah, I did say that. I mean it." He watched the conflicted emotions flicker across her face. "I care about you, Sara, and I want to be a lot more than just friends with you. You mean a lot more to me than that. I think that we could have something pretty incredible between us if we gave us a chance."

Her reply was full of wistfulness and hope. "Ok." She looked into his eyes, the fear replaced by trust even though inside she was a bundle of nerves.

Nick caressed her cheek with his fingertips as he looked at her intently. "Can I kiss you?" He had been so startled by Sara's kiss that morning, that he hadn't really had a chance to enjoy it and he'd been looking forward to seeing her so that he might be able to return the kiss.

As much as Sara wanted to kiss him, she was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that they were standing in the locker room before shift and anyone could and probably would walk through the door at any moment. She swallowed hard as she furrowed her brow at him. "Here?"

Nick felt a pang of disappointment but let out a soft chuckle as he flashed her a sheepish grin. "Yeah, that probably wouldn't go over so well with Grissom, huh?" He nervously ran his fingers through his hair and stepped back a little.

Sara smirked. "No, it probably wouldn't, at least at the lab." She really wanted to kiss Nick, but she felt like she needed a little time to adjust to the changes that were happening between them and kissing in the locker room where anyone might see them wasn't how she wanted to do that.

Nick smirked back at her. "You know, you really left me pretty speechless this morning."

Sara felt herself blush in spite of the fact that his confession gave her a certain amount of satisfaction. "I could say the same for you."

Nick chuckled softly. "Do you want to grab breakfast after shift? You know like a real date?" Why he felt nervous speaking those words to her when they'd shared countless meals together he wasn't exactly sure. Perhaps it was because it was a marking a starting point of something that he knew was going to last a very long time.

Sara smiled at him. "I'd love to have breakfast with you." She let out a soft laugh and then smirked again. "As long as this shift doesn't turn into a double."


	4. Chapter 4

Despite the fact that the case Sara worked that night was a gristly homicide, she couldn't quite keep the smile off of her face at the conversation that she and Nick had shared before shift began and at the anticipation of spending some time with him later.

Her exceptionally sunny disposition did not go unnoticed by Catherine who was on the other side of room in which their victim had been killed. She was in the process of dusting a coffee table for prints and glanced up at Sara, catching a smile spreading across the younger CSI's face as she took pictures of blood spatter. Catherine furrowed her brow. "Did you find something?"

Sara looked over and shook her head, her smile still in place. "Nothing remarkable. You?"

Catherine looked at Sara quite oddly. "Nothing." She turned her attention back to the table she was dusting and watched Sara out of the corner of her eye. At the end of last shift, Sara had seemed pretty out of it, distracted by something, and now, she was, well to put it bluntly, a little too happy. Catherine was immediately suspicious.

Sara continued photographing the blood spatter in a methodical fashion, her thoughts continuing to drift to Nick. In spite of herself she let out a soft chuckle as she remembered the look on his face after she'd kissed him; there was no doubt about it, he had been dumbfounded.

At the sound of Sara's laugh, Catherine looked up and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Since when is blood spatter funny?" Sara's behavior was completely out of character and Catherine's suspicions were heightened considerably.

Sara wasn't sure what Catherine was talking about. "I'm sorry, what was that?" She looked a little confused since she wasn't aware that she'd laughed out loud.

Catherine had a bit of a sly smile on her face as she regarded Sara. "You were laughing." Catherine smirked. "Actually, it was pretty damn close to a giggle."

Sara's eyes widened ever so slightly and she tried to play it off. "I guess I was thinking about something else." Sara turned her attention back to what she was doing hoping that Catherine would just drop the subject.

Catherine let out a throaty laugh. "Spill it Sara." Sara's demeanor spoke volumes.

Sara looked at Catherine with a blank expression. "Spill what?" She had been so lost in thought about Nick and their breakfast date after shift that she hadn't realized that Catherine had been watching her.

Catherine deadpanned. "What's his name?" If there was one thing that Catherine recognized it was the look of a woman who had been enamored by some guy, and while she'd seldom seen it on Sara, well, actually she wasn't sure she'd ever seen it on Sara, even with the crush she'd nursed on Grissom because Gil Grissom was constantly doing things that sent Sara into a funk never being the wiser for his actions, this was definitely not a Gil Grissom induced funk.

Sara did her best to try and keep her smile at bay, but the color infusing her cheeks was a dead giveaway that Catherine had hit the nail on the head. "What makes you think it's some guy?"

Catherine looked at her in disbelief. "Give me a little credit." Catherine hadn't been a CSI for over fifteen years without learning a thing or two about human behavior.

Sara knew that Catherine wouldn't be satisfied until she'd gotten enough information for a plausible explanation. She tried to swallow her smile again without much success. "Ok, so maybe there is someone."

Catherine wasn't budging until she got more. "Uh, huh." She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head slightly.

Sara turned to face Catherine and knew that there was no way she was going to be able to be vague about this, but she was going to give it her best shot. "Ok, so I have a date after shift."

Catherine looked at her expectantly.

Sara smirked. "It's not like I've never gone on a date, Catherine." She hoped she could turn the conversation.

Catherine had a smug expression. "Must be some guy." She could tell that whoever this was that Sara had a date with must be pretty special.

Sara looked at Catherine curiously. "What makes you say that?" Catherine seemed so sure of herself, something that Sara wasn't even sure of at this point.

Catherine tried to restrain a smile. "Sara, I've never seen you this distracted at a crime scene, and nobody giggles when they're photographing blood spatter.

A soft smile spread across Sara's face. There was no way that Catherine was going to let this drop and Sara was apparently not fooling her so she cut to the chase. "I have a date with Nick."

Catherine didn't really process what Sara had just said. "Who?"

"Nick." Sara looked a bit flustered and turned back to photographing the scene.

"Nick Stokes." Catherine's tone clearly implied that she was surprised and was trying to clarify that she'd heard Sara correctly.

"That's what I said." There was an ever so slight waver in Sara's voice. She wouldn't say it, but Catherine's reaction had felt like a sucker punch in her gut. It hurt that Catherine would be shocked that Nick would want to go out with her.

"Sara." Catherine knew immediately that she'd struck a nerve with her younger coworker and she softened her tone, a smile spreading across her face.

Sara glanced up and felt her nerves ebb a little as she noted Catherine's friendly expression.

"I didn't mean that like it sounded." Catherine hoped that Sara knew she was being sincere.

Sara wasn't sure what to say and she swallowed hard as she looked at Catherine a bit blankly.

"I just didn't realize that you two were more than just friends." Catherine hoped that Sara didn't think she was against the idea, she wasn't, she was just taken a bit by surprise.

Sara felt incredibly uncomfortable and cleared her throat. "Ok, so I'm thinking that with this pattern of spatter that the vic was standing up when he was hit."

Catherine couldn't help but smile as she took Sara's hint and turned her attention to where she was pointing at the castoff pattern on the wall. She made a mental note to ask Nick about this new development later.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick had just wrapped up his case and was heading to the locker room to gather his things and then track down where Sara was to see if they were still going to be able to go on their breakfast date. Just the thought of spending time with her brought a smile to his face and as he rounded the corner into the locker room, his smile spread into a wide grin as the object of his affection came into view; he hardly noticed Catherine who was standing next to her getting things out of her own locker.

Sara glanced up as she heard someone come in and as she saw Nick's grin, she felt one of her own spreading across her face. "Hey." She was still absolutely astounded that Nick Stokes found her beautiful and that he wanted to be with her.

Nick came in and leaned his shoulder against the bay of lockers. "Hey." He couldn't stop studying her face, the graceful curve of her eyebrows, her soft brown eyes, and that smile of hers. Every time she smiled at him he felt like the rest of the world had just melted away and that smile was reserved for him. At that moment he realized that it was just one of many things about her that he loved. His heart almost stopped at the word that had just flown through his mind. Love. Momentary panic flooded his lungs, seemingly sucking the air out of them and rendering him speechless as he continued staring at Sara.

Catherine had watched the slight change in Nick's expression and cleared her throat, not wanting to intrude on the moment, but knowing that she needed to get past both of them to get out of the locker room and she'd rather do it now rather than wait until they were in the middle of something more personal. "Hey, Nicky." There was a mischievous tone in Catherine's voice and the look in her eyes matched it as she patted him on the arm.

Nick broke out of his reverie and glanced at Catherine just in time to see her wink at him. He stammered slightly. "Uh, hey, Cath."

Catherine gave Sara a knowing glance and smirked. "See you two tonight."

Sara felt her cheeks flush as she watched Catherine walk out the door and into the hallway, leaving her and Nick alone in the locker room. She looked at Nick and noticed a bewildered expression on his face and she immediately furrowed her brows in worry that he was having second thoughts. "Nick?"

Noting the uncertainty in Sara's voice, he turned back towards her, his own brow furrowed. "Yeah?" He hoped that she wasn't going to back out of their date. He had been looking forward to it all night and had even garnered some ribbing from Warrick and an annoyed glance or two from Grissom at how distracted he seemed at their crime scene.

Sara's nervousness was in overdrive and she couldn't seem to look Nick in the eye. "Uh, so we were supposed to go get breakfast, but I would completely understand if you didn't want to. I mean shift's been really long, and I bet you're tired and if you want to go home and just sleep, I'd understand." Her insecurity was oozing out of every word she spoke.

Nick looked a little confused. "Do you still want to go?"

Sara looked into Nick's eyes feeling extremely vulnerable. "Do you?" She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she prepared for a let down.

Nick nodded, a smile playing at his lips. "Yeah, I do. Do you want to?" He wasn't sure what he'd do if she said 'no'.

Sara bit at her lower lip for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, I do." There was still a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Nick looked at her with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I." Sara wasn't exactly sure how to tell him what she was thinking so she just attacked it head on. "At my scene tonight, uh, Catherine and I were talking. Uh, she, well, I, well, we, I mean you and I came up in conversation."

Nick's expression implored her to continue because he was having a hard time following what she was trying to say.

Sara took a breath and continued, not quite looking at Nick. "She just seemed really shocked that you and I might be anything more than friends."

"Sara." Nick's tone was gentle and he reached over and touched her chin, lifting her gaze.

She searched his eyes and swallowed hard. "Yeah?"

He smiled at her softly. "I don't care what Catherine thinks. I care what you think." He knew that some of their coworkers might be taken by surprise by the development between he and Sara. He hadn't really told anyone how he felt about her, but it was no secret that they had flirted shamelessly with each other for years.

"Oh." Sara's face reflected a bit of surprise as she blinked at Nick.

Nick wasn't sure what possessed him, but he'd been thinking about it all night and he didn't want to wait any longer. He leaned forward and softly kissed Sara, not caring at that moment if anyone walked in and saw them. He just wanted Sara to know that he cared about her and he wanted to help remove the doubts she was feeling about his intentions towards her.

The second Nick's lips touched hers, Sara felt her eyes flutter shut and she blocked out everything else but the sensation of his lips against hers. She didn't open her eyes until she felt him pull away.

Nick was grinning at Sara as she looked up at him, and a smile began to spread across her own face. He reached over and tucked an errant curl behind her ear. "I think we have a breakfast date, Ms. Sidle."

She smirked at him as she felt butterflies in her stomach after that kiss. "That's the rumor."

Nick feigned surprise. "Rumor?" He reached over and took her hand. "I have it on pretty good authority that it's a done deal."

She let out a soft laugh, inwardly savoring the feel of her hand in his. "Oh, you do, do you?"

He nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I do."

"Ok then." She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips against his in a brief kiss and then whispered as she pulled away. "Then let's get out of here, I'm hungry."

"Yes, ma'am." He winked at her and then began to pull her with him towards the doorway and as he did, he and Sara stopped in their tracks as they noticed Warrick and Grissom standing there with surprised expressions on their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

Warrick quirked his eyebrow as he regarded Nick and Sara. "So I guess you don't want to join the rest of us for breakfast then?" As surprised as he looked, he really wasn't all that shocked that something had actually happened between them; he just found it amazing that one of them had actually gotten around to doing something about all of that flirting.

Sara gripped Nick's hand a little tighter and swallowed hard. "Uh, no." Her eyes widened at the expression on Grissom's face. He looked surprised, maybe even a little shocked, but he certainly didn't seem upset, at least visibly.

Nick felt his throat go dry and as he felt the pressure on his hand increase from Sara's grip, he felt as if he had a sudden burst of courage. "We have a date."

Grissom noted the nervous demeanor of his two young colleagues and despite a pang of regret that it seemed Sara was no longer available, he also felt some semblance of relief that the decision about whether he needed to do anything about his feelings had already been made for him. He glanced at Nick and as he regarded the young man a sort of half smirk tugged at his mouth. "A date?"

Nick's eyes widened and he swallowed hard before he squared his shoulders and answered. "Yes, Sara and I have a date for breakfast." He narrowed his gaze in challenge, puffing his chest out a little bit. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Sara felt her heart quicken slightly, hoping that this wasn't going to turn into some display of who had more testosterone.

Grissom raised a single eyebrow, and there was a vague hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "Just one."

Nick felt panic surge through him and he was about to offer up a piece of his mind to Grissom about how whatever he and Sara did outside of the lab was none of his business, but he stopped when he saw Warrick trying to hold back a chuckle. He narrowed his eyes at his friend and then looked back at Grissom. "What?"

Grissom pointed to Nick's belt which was still sporting his gun and his ID badge. "Shift's over, Nicky."

Nick glanced down and only then did he realize just how distracted he'd become the instant he'd seen Sara; he'd forgotten to stow his gear and grab his jacket. He could only try and restrain the embarrassed smile that crept across his face. "Right."

Warrick chuckled at Nick's discomfort and then glanced over at Sara who had a faint hue of pink in her cheeks. He smiled at her. "You're sure you want to go out on a date with this yahoo?" There was a definite hint of good natured teasing in his voice.

"Yes." She felt Nick give her hand a squeeze. This wasn't exactly how she'd pictured announcing that she and Nick had decided to see each other, but there was nothing that she could do about it now.

Warrick glanced at Nick and smirked, but continued to address Sara. "Well maybe you should drive then. Nick seems to be a little distracted today."

"Hey, now." Nick retorted with a grin. Warrick could tease him all he wanted to, but nothing could change the fact that Sara was going on a date with him and he was still holding her hand.

"Warrick, I'll meet you in the parking lot. Find Greg on your way out." Grissom excused himself, as much to get a move on to the diner as well as remove himself from a somewhat uncomfortable situation. While he was mostly fine with Nick and Sara seeing each other, he still had feelings that he didn't know how to deal with and he didn't plan to torture himself by watching them interact in a romantic manner. He needed a little time to get used to the idea.

Warrick leveled a serious gaze at Nick and Sara. "Hey, you might want to fill Sanders in before he walks in and finds you two in a lip lock. I'm not sure his fragile ego could handle it."

Sara pursed her lips together and then cleared her throat. "We'll keep that in mind." She arched a brow Warrick's direction. "Shouldn't you be looking for him?"

Warrick responded dryly, offering a knowing wink their direction. "Right, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." He let out a chuckle, shaking his head in amusement as he turned and walked out of the locker room.

As he strode out of sight, Sara turned towards Nick with a smirk on her face. "I guess I should have let you kiss me earlier."

Nick looked at her a bit confused. "Huh?" He was still trying to process that by way of the kiss they'd shared a few short minutes ago that they'd pretty much announced to the entire lab that they were seeing each other.

Sara giggled. "We got caught anyway." She leaned up and kissed Nick softly, pulling away with a smile on her face. "Put your gun away so we can get out of here."

"Yes, ma'am." He chuckled softly and released her hand, stepping over to his locker to finish what he'd come in there to do in the first place. As he stood in front of his open locker stowing his gear he felt a pair of hands coming to rest on his shoulders and a smile stole across his face.

"So where are we going?" Sara had always known that Nick had a muscular physique, but as her hands rested on his shoulders, she was acutely aware of just how strong he was as she felt his muscles moving under her hands as he reached for his jacket.

Nick closed his locker and turned to face her, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that the diner is out."

Sara looked at him in momentary confusion, she had been enjoying being able to touch him without having to find a reasonable excuse. "Oh?"

Nick smirked, his arms crossed in front of his body. "Unless you really want to share our first date with Warrick, Greg, Grissom, and Catherine that is."

She shook her head and then stepped towards him, her hand tentatively coming to rest on his forearm. "No, I definitely don't want to share it with them."

Nick enveloped her hand in his and grinned. "Ok. I know this great little place that makes the most incredible French Toast."

Sara felt a grin spread across her face as she let him lead her towards the doorway. "Lead on, Mr. Stokes."


	7. Chapter 7

"You've been holding out on us, haven't you?" Sara smirked mischievously at Nick from across the table at the cozy café they were sitting in. He had not been exaggerating when he'd told her that the French toast at this place was amazing.

Nick let out a soft chuckle as he speared a piece of apple stuffed French toast with his fork. "I discovered this place the last time one of my sisters came up to visit." He popped the bite of food into his mouth and grinned at her. He was tempted to pinch himself to make sure that he really was on a date with Sara Sidle.

Sara looked at him curiously, as if something had just occurred to her. She had known Nick for over four years, but there was a lot about him she didn't know, that she really wanted to know. "Can I ask you a question?" There was a bit of hesitation in her voice.

Nick furrowed his brow slightly and nodded. "Shoot." He knew that there were certain topics that eventually came up when you dated someone new and he hoped that this wasn't one of them. He and Sara knew each other pretty well, so most of the questions about ex-girlfriends had come up in the course of conversation while they'd worked together.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "How come none of us have ever met any of your family?" She regarded Nick's somewhat blank expression and pressed on. "I mean I know that most of them live in Dallas, but how come you've never brought any of them by the lab when they've been in town?" Her question seemed perfectly logical in her mind, the lab was a sort of second home to her, but then again, no one knew anything about her family and she wasn't sure she wanted that to change. However, her PEAP counselor that she'd been seeing since her near DUI had helped her to see that some of her workaholic tendencies were a direct result of trying to deal with her family and her upbringing.

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I guess because when I'm at work, I'm at work, and when I'm off, I'm off. I don't like to mix the two. It never occurred to me that any of you would want to meet them." Of all of the CSIs, Nick seemed to balance his life a little better than most of them. He was able to let the job go for the most part when he went home and had a little time to unwind, or at least he gave it a damn good try; there was always a case now and then that wouldn't let go of you.

Sara smiled at him softly, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. "It might be interesting to meet some of your family, especially with your parents being in law." She was very curious about the parents who had helped to shape the man sitting across from her and she wondered about his siblings and how he interacted with each of them. She allowed her mind to briefly drift to what Thanksgiving and Christmas might be at the Stokes' house in Dallas and whether or not they would like her.

There was a hint of sadness in Nick's smile as he reached over and picked up his cup of coffee and took a long draw from it before setting it back down on the table in front of him. "Being in law is a lot different than being in law enforcement, but the hours are pretty much the same." Nick's mind seemed to take a light speed trip through his childhood as he spoke. "My dad wasn't around much because he worked a lot, especially after he was appointed to the bench; although when he was around he certainly tried to make up for lost time." A smirked flitted across Nick's face as he tried to lighten the mood. "I think seven kids is evidence of that." He waggled his eyebrows at Sara.

Sara giggled. "You are so bad."

Nick just grinned at her. "He and my mom will have been married for 50 years next year." In the back of his mind, he wondered what it would be like to be with Sara that long and he felt a fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach as he considered for the second time that day that he had either already fallen for her or he was in the midst of falling hard and fast.

Sara's eyes widened. "Wow. I didn't think people stayed married that long any more." She knew that her comment sounded cynical, but then she hadn't exactly had the example of stability and what a proper home life should be. She had used her exceptional intelligence to become an overachiever as a means to escape a life that she never wanted to have for herself. The accomplishment of Nick's parents made her wonder what that kind of life might be like, what that kind of family might be like.

Nick took another sip of his coffee. "What about your parents? You've never brought them by when they've come to visit." He watched panic flicker across Sara's face for a brief moment and then he furrowed his brow in concern as she looked at him with a fearful expression.

Sara felt a flurry of nerves in her stomach. "Actually, they haven't visited me since I moved to Vegas." She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell Nick, she wasn't sure he'd understand why it was that she really didn't want them to come for a visit.

Nick recognized the look on her face from the look he'd seen on the faces of so many victims who had survived to testify or to give an eyewitness account, and he knew enough about Sara not to press her to share something with him that she wasn't ready to. "I'm sorry." He reached across the table and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze, but not letting it go, instead he began to rub his thumb over the back of it in a steady rhythm as he smiled softly at her.

Sara smiled nervously, appreciative of the comforting gesture that Nick offered. She knew that she could trust him, but she wasn't sure she trusted herself to keep it together while she talked, so she decided to just speak in generalities and save the specifics for another time in a less public place. "My parents are a little strange." She looked into his eyes and drew a bit of courage from the kindness that lay there. "We don't really get along very well."

"It's their loss, Sara." Nick looked at her intently wondering just how it was that these people that had created the amazing woman sitting across from him had hurt her enough that she didn't seem to want a relationship with them, or at least didn't want to put herself in a position to be hurt all over again.

Sara felt emotion welling up in her throat and she did her best to squelch it. She smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Well I can't do anything to change them." That was one of several truths that her counselor had helped her to see over the course of the last several months and it had given her a great deal of freedom inside, but she hadn't really talked to anyone about those things yet and the prospect of it scared the hell out of her.

Nick could tell that Sara was uncomfortable so he decided to try and change the subject. He gestured towards Sara's plate which still had half a piece of strawberry stuffed French toast on it. "Are you going to eat that?"

Sara smirked at him, thankful that the flirty banter had returned. "I was just going to ask you the same thing." She pointed at his plate which still had a few substantial bites left on it.

He regarded both of their plates for a brief second before picking up her plate and trading it with his. He laughed at her opened mouth scoff and then winked as he popped a bite of her French toast in his mouth. "This is pretty good."

"I know." She just shook her head at him, trying to restrain her smile.

He pointed at his plate as it sat in front of her. "That's not gonna eat itself you know."

She just giggled as she picked up her fork and began to devour the remainder of his French toast.


	8. Chapter 8

The food was gone and the waitress had long since removed their plates, filling their coffee several times over before Nick and Sara even broached the subject of leaving the café. They had dropped Sara's rig off at her apartment before they'd gone out to eat and neither one of them seemed to want the date to come to an end quite yet. The waitress arrived at the edge of their table again, intent on refilling their cups for the umpteenth time when Nick glanced up at her with a smile, putting his hand over the top of his coffee cup. "Thanks, Margaret, but I think we're done."

Margaret gave Nick and Sara a knowing smile and went to fill the coffee cup of another patron.

Nick smiled at Sara, seemingly intent on memorizing how she looked at that moment. "You ready to get out of here?"

"I guess so." Sara smiled at him. She wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting in the café, it seemed like they'd just gotten there, but based on the number of people that had occupied the table next to them since they'd arrived, she was sure a considerable amount of time had passed, and it seemed that somewhere in there, the café had stopped serving breakfast and had moved on to lunch.

Nick unconsciously reached for Sara's hand as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. Just the feel of her hand in his gave him butterflies, a sensation that he'd not felt for any woman in longer than he could remember. His heart flipped in his chest when Sara glanced over at him and smiled.

"Thanks for breakfast. I had a really good time." She truly had enjoyed spending the morning with Nick and despite the fact that they both had to work that night, she didn't really want the date to end yet.

"Good." He grinned at her as they approached his Denali and as they stopped by the passenger door, he leaned down and softly kissed her.

Sara smiled against his lips. She was still feeling giddy that Nick wanted to be with her and the sensation of his lips against hers was causing her stomach to flutter. She pulled away and looked into his eyes. "Do you want to come over for a while? We could watch a movie or something."

There was just something about the way that she looked at him that made Nick grin; he was definitely falling and he didn't want to do a thing to make it stop. "I think I'd like that." The prospect of spending even more time with her was intoxicating. He dipped his head again and stole another kiss before stepping back and opening the door.

As Sara climbed into the passenger seat a thought occurred to her and as she considered it, she became nervous. She knew that Nick had dated a lot of women and she wondered what his expectations were for a first date. He had told her that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever known, but as doubt reared its ugly head in the back of her mind she wondered if that was part truth and part a line to get her into bed. It wasn't that she hadn't had the occasional carnal thought about him over the course of the last four years, but that had been in her mind and the prospect that a very real intimate encounter might be imminent left her feeling very uncertain. It had been a while since she'd been with someone and she wasn't sure she was ready to cross that line with him just yet, but at the same time she found the idea very appealing.

Nick held Sara's hand most of the way to her apartment and he didn't really wonder why she had fallen silent; they had always been able to spend time together and not feel like they had to fill up the silence to be comfortable with each other. He pulled into her lot and parked the SUV, glancing over at her with a smile as they descended from the vehicle.

They stepped inside her apartment, and Sara headed straight into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?" Her nerves had begun to cloud her thinking.

Nick let out a soft chuckle as he came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "We just ate, Sar. I'm fine."

She felt her cheeks flush and her throat constricted slightly as she turned around to face him. "Sorry."

Nick could tell that she was nervous about something, but he assumed that it was because this was the first time they'd been alone, really alone together since they'd decided that they wanted to move beyond friendship. He smiled at her and let his hands rest on her shoulders again. "Relax, it's just me."

Sara smiled, but it felt forced. She knew that he was right, but her uncertainty about his expectations and her desires gnawed at her. In the back of her mind she assumed that he expected sex on the first date; if word around the lab was correct, and as much as she wanted it and wanted him, she just wasn't sure. They made their way into the living room and settled themselves on the couch, Sara snuggling against Nick as she flicked the TV on.

Nick laughed. "And everyone thinks I'm a Discovery Channel junkie." He couldn't resist teasing her as an episode of 'The New Detectives' came on.

Sara giggled and elbowed him. "You are."

They sat there in companionable silence just watching TV and sitting close for quite awhile. Nick wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting like that but as his fingers trailed up and down Sara's arm he had the most incredible urge to kiss her. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and then her cheek and then her lips.

In the back of Sara's mind the words 'this is it' were flashing red and despite the warning bells going off, she decided to throw all caution to the wind and just go for it. She responded eagerly to his kiss, letting out a soft moan as she opened her mouth to him. She felt his fingers tangling in her hair and she found herself grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as she moved closer to him. They traded deep hungry kisses for quite a while and when Nick began to kiss her neck, Sara reasoned that she should give him some sort of indication that he had a green light despite the fact that through her lust clouded mind she heard a nagging voice telling her that she really wasn't ready for this with him. She released her hold on him and began to unbutton her blouse, certain that Nick would get the message.

It wasn't until Nick began to kiss her jaw as he made his way back to her mouth that he opened his eyes for a moment and saw her fumbling with the buttons on her blouse. As arousing as it was for him to see the delicate pink lace of Sara's bra, he knew that this was moving far too quick and he needed to put the brakes on while he still had some semblance of coherent thought and self control.

As Nick pulled away, he saw fear in Sara's eyes and he felt a pang of hurt coursing through him. It was evident to him that she thought that this was what he wanted. He furrowed his brow and reached up and tucked a curl behind her ear. His voice was a husky whisper as he looked into her eyes. "Sara, I don't think we're ready for this."

Sara winced, both from embarrassment and a feeling of rejection. She pulled her blouse closed and wrapped her arms around her body. She wasn't sure she could look him in the eyes. "You don't want me?" There was confusion in her voice.

Nick's tone was soft and he hoped that she didn't misinterpret what he was trying to say. "I do want you. I think I've wanted you for a long time, but I don't think we should rush this."

Sara didn't move as he continued talking.

"I want our first time together to be special, when we're both ready, not just because you think that this is what I want." He couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice; hurt for her and hurt that his past had contributed to what she thought his expectations were.

Sara closed her eyes and whispered. "So I just made a complete fool out of myself then." Her throat seemed to constrict even as relief washed over her that Nick wasn't any more ready for this than she was.

Nick reached over and pulled her close, whispering into her ear. "Hey, I'm really flattered, and I'm looking forward to when we do take that step." He felt her relax against him and he let out a soft chuckle. "I just don't think we're ready for hot monkey sex just yet."

Sara couldn't help but laugh and she pushed out of his embrace, her blouse falling open again.

Nick raised an appreciative eyebrow at her as she quickly refastened the buttons on her blouse. "I always pictured you as a lace kind of girl."


	9. Chapter 9

Despite the fact that Nick had only gotten four hours of sleep, he looked like a new man; he was tired, but he was certain that he was a complete goner over Sara and all he seemed to be able to do was smile. When he rounded the corner into the locker room, his somewhat more skeptical coworker glanced up.

"Must have been one hell of a date." Warrick quipped dryly, rolling his eyes at how perky Nick seemed to be.

"You're just jealous man." Nick sounded like a man who was very satisfied.

Warrick's 'big brother' radar immediately was working full tilt as he narrowed his gaze at Nick. "This had better not be like after you went out with Detective Scalla." Nick wasn't exactly known for his follow through with women, not even those he worked around and Warrick was more than prepared to give him an earful if Sara ended up being just another 'conquest' as Greg called Nick's foray into the dating world.

Nick just shook his head. "It's not like that man." A wide grin spread out across his face. "Sara is the most beautiful, amazing woman that I've ever known, and it wasn't just a date."

Warrick let out a knowing chuckle.

Nick shook his head again and then smirked at Warrick. "It's not what you think. Sara's special and I don't want to rush things."

Warrick looked at Nick like he had just grown a third ear. "You?"

Nick gathered his thoughts for a moment and then turned to face Warrick. "If you thought you had a chance with the most amazing woman you'd ever met, wouldn't you do whatever it took to make sure you didn't screw it up?"

Warrick was momentarily speechless.

Just then Catherine sauntered in, took note of Warrick's befuddled expression and the smug look on Nick's face and made a few conclusions. "I guess they'll be a second date then?"

Nick grinned at her. "Why, yes, Catherine, and I hope there's a third and fourth too."

Catherine let out a deep throaty chuckle as she opened her locker. "Love looks good on you, Nicky." She winked as she hung up her jacket and then grabbed her ID badge.

When Nick didn't deny what Catherine was saying, Warrick's eyes widened. "You're in love with Sara." He wasn't quite sure he was hearing things correctly; this was his friend Nick Stokes who had a phobia about commitment which was why he had dated so many women.

Nick just arched his brows quickly and smirked. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Warrick glanced at Catherine who was looking back at him with an amused expression. She wasn't going to offer him any help, they still hadn't talked about the encounter that they'd almost had and she wasn't going to make it easy on him either. Warrick glanced back at Nick and narrowed his eyes at him. "Only if you break her heart; she's had enough of that for a lifetime." The 'big brother' glare on his face made it clear that he'd rip Nick's lungs out through his nose if he hurt Sara.

Nick raised both hands and let out a soft chuckle. "I have no intention of breaking her heart." He softened his voice and couldn't help but smile. "Trust me, my intentions are very honorable."

"I'll see you guys in the conference room for the briefing." Catherine grinned at Nick as she headed towards the door and then as she glanced over at Warrick, she winked before she disappeared into the hallway.

Warrick crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Nick intently. "How serious are you about Sara?"

Nick's smile was wide as he answered Warrick and with his back to the door, he couldn't see that someone was walking in. "I think I'm in love with her."

When Warrick didn't answer right away and his eyes looked beyond him, panic surged through Nick until he heard a familiar voice edged with disbelief. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, Sara." Warrick knew that he'd better give the two of them a few moments alone and he quickly headed out of the locker room with Catherine's wink on his mind.

Nick turned around and looked at Sara with his heart in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't that he didn't want her to know, he just didn't think she was ready to hear it yet and this most certainly was not how he envisioned telling her. "Did you sleep ok?"

She just nodded as she stepped towards him. "Yeah." She swallowed, still trying to process what she'd overheard Nick say. "You?" Her heart seemed to be beating erratically and she fought the urge to run out of the room in case she hadn't heard him correctly and just in case she did hear him correctly. Her mouth felt dry and she unconsciously licked her lips.

Nick nodded, he felt a little unsteady on his legs and he felt his heart was perched on his sleeve for her to see. "Yeah, I did. I slept really good actually."

"That's good." Sara wasn't sure why she was so nervous, she wasn't even this nervous when she'd pretty much thrown herself at Nick; maybe she was this nervous when he said he didn't think they were ready to take that step and she'd almost thought he was having second thoughts about her altogether.

Nick wasn't sure what to say to break the tension, so he stepped forward and softly kissed her.

Sara didn't give him a chance to pull away, she slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, and when she finally did pull away she was smiling. "Hi." Her voice was a bit husky.

Nick let out a soft chuckle as his hands rested on her waist. "Hi, yourself." He looked at her intently for a few long moments and then a slightly embarrassed grin spread across his face. "I didn't mean for you to overhear that." He lowered his voice and furrowed his brow into a more serious expression. "I mean it though. I think I'm in love with you."

Sara wasn't sure what to say, she cared about Nick a great deal and she was definitely attracted to him. She loved him as her friend and she was definitely open to falling in love with him, but she just wasn't there yet. Giving her heart to someone was the scariest thing that she could think of doing and it was just going to take some time. She looked at Nick and cleared her throat nervously. "It's not that I don't care about you, I do, it's just that I..." Her brow furrowed in frustration.

Nick pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. "Hey, you don't have to say anything. I'd be a fool if I expected you to fall in love with me after one date."

Sara pulled out of his embrace and looked as if she was going to say something, but Nick didn't give her a chance.

An impish smile spread across his face. "Now after the fourth date, all bets are off."

She couldn't help but laugh and with that she felt a little bit of her heart slip out of her control.


	10. Chapter 10

It was midway through shift when Sara sauntered into the DNA lab to give Mia the new technician some samples that she'd collected at the crime scene she'd worked with Catherine earlier that night. She yawned unconsciously as she set the samples on the counter near where Mia was working.

Mia glanced up at her, noting the yawn and smiled. "Stay up all day?"

Sara smiled softly and yawned again. "No, I just didn't get a lot of sleep."

Mia smirked. "Rumor has it that you and Stokes went on a hot date after shift, maybe even came in together." Of all of the people Mia had met since she'd come to work at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, she had hit it off immediately with Sara, if for no other reason than to defuse the advances of one Greg Sanders.

Sara couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from pulling upward at the thought of her date with Nick. As long as the date was, it had seemed far too short. But she protested firmly about the rumors Mia spoke of. "Nick and I went on a date, but he did not stay over."

"Greg made it sound like something quite different." Mia knew that Sara would want to know irregardless of the fact that she'd be pissed that Greg was spreading rumors.

Sara looked at Mia with a flash of fire in her eyes. "Greg's a dead man, especially if Nick gets wind of it."

Mia smirked. "He's just jealous that you won't go out with him. After I made it clear I wasn't about to go out with him when I first started here, he wouldn't stop talking about you."

Sara just shook her head and let out a soft laugh. She knew that once Greg got something in mind, particularly a woman, he didn't give up easily, she was sure that Mia had only gone through round one and it wouldn't be long before Greg started to subtly try to wear her down.

Mia glanced over at Sara curiously. "So did you have a nice date?" Her brows curved upward expectantly.

Sara nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Yeah, we had a really good time." In retrospect, she was glad that Nick had stopped things from going any further between them. His statement that they'd have plenty of time for that in the future implied that he believed that they had a future together; she wasn't sure that anyone had made her feel like she was worth waiting for before. Just that thought made her heart skip a beat.

Mia lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Watch out, here comes Greg." She turned her attention back to the sample she had been processing as the lab tech turned CSI sauntered in.

Greg had a smug look on his face. "Hello ladies." His grin was a bit cheesy. "So, Sara, I hear you and my man Nick had a hot little hook up." He looked a little too pleased with himself.

Sara didn't say anything for a moment, she simply crossed her arms over her chest and raised a single eyebrow. "What exactly have you been telling everyone?"

Greg wasn't sure what to make of her expression. "You did go out with Nick." There was a nervous chuckle in his voice and he began to doubt his assumptions.

"You didn't answer my question, Greg." Sara had been gifted with a look that she could deliver to most men that had them quaking in their shoes, and it was just such a look that she was directing towards Greg.

He swallowed hard and somehow he had a feeling that he had dug himself a hole with no means of escape.

Sara narrowed her gaze at him. "Nick and I went on a date, and not that it's any of your business, contrary to what you seem to be telling everyone, Nick and I didn't sleep together."

Greg studied Sara for a minute, oblivious to the amused expression on Mia's face as she watched the exchange. Not only did Sara seem on the edge of fury, what she was telling him was completely contrary to his assumption that Nick would have 'conquered' Sara as it were. If his pal Nick, king of the ladies men was hanging up his crown and taking his time with Sara it meant one thing in Greg's mind; Nick Stokes was in love with Sara Sidle. He cleared his throat. "So you're going out again?" He couldn't quite let go of his hope that Sara might one day see him as a potential date instead of a quirky lab geek.

Sara gave him a satisfied smirk. "Definitely."

Just then the man in question breezed into the DNA lab with one purpose in mind, a purpose which was quickly sidetracked the second he saw Sara. A wide grin spread across his face as he saw her standing there and he absentmindedly set his samples on the counter. "Hey, Sar."

"Hey, yourself." Sara glanced up and smirked at him as her eyes gestured towards Greg with a meaning that was all too clear.

Nick's eyebrows slowly went up in realization as he glanced over at Greg. "Hey, man."

Greg regarded Nick quizzically as if trying to analyze his body language to see just how much time he had to extricate himself from the lab before Nick got a hold of him. "Nick." His tone was crisp and clipped.

"I'm going to go get a cup of coffee." Sara looked at Nick for a long moment and then smirked at Mia before shooting Greg another glare and slipping out into the hallway.

Nick's gaze followed Sara out into the hallway and when he finally turned his attention back to Greg, the CSI in training was looking at him with a somewhat unreadable expression. Nick cocked an eyebrow. "Greg, I think you and I need to have a little chat." He slung his arm around Greg's shoulder gripping it tightly in a gesture meant to let him know he'd better watch his mouth.

"I'll page you when your results are ready, Nick." Mia was clearly amused at how well Nick and Sara seemed to handle Greg.

"Thanks, Mia." Nick responded as he propelled Greg out into the hallway.

Greg tried to play it cool. "What did you want to talk about?"

"My relationship with Sara is none of your business and you'd better stop spreading rumors before I spread you. Got it." Nick hissed in Greg ear.

"Got it." Greg breathed a sigh of relief that he left it at that.

"I'm getting a cup of coffee." Nick gave Greg's shoulder another hard squeeze before he released him and headed down the hall towards the break room and Sara. As Nick neared the break room, he was disappointed that she didn't seem to be in it, but as he walked into the room, he saw her lying curled up on the couch that lined one of the walls with her eyes closed and he could see that a fresh pot of coffee was in the middle of brewing. He walked over towards the couch and crouched down next to her, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm not asleep." Sara couldn't hold back her smile, but she kept her eyes closed.

"I thought you were going to get some coffee." Nick's voice was full of amusement.

She chuckled softly. "There was just sludge when I came in here so I had to make some more."

"I never knew you were so domestic." Nick was hoping to get a rise out her and completely expected her to launch into some spiel about men and women being equal and being fully capable of holding down a career and being self sufficient. What she said, however, was not what he expected.

She let out a yawn. "I'm a lot of things that you don't know about yet."

Nick reached over and brushed her hair back from her face savoring the look of her just then.

Sara smiled at the touch of his fingers on her face. "Is the coffee done yet?" She really didn't care if it was, she was enjoying this moment with Nick and she wasn't in a rush for it to end.

Nick didn't even bother to glance up at the coffee machine; he just continued to stroke her hair. "It's got another minute or so."

From outside the break room, Grissom had paused near the doorway, noticing the tender exchange between his two younger coworkers and felt a pang of regret that he hadn't been able to muster the courage that had seemed to come so naturally to Nick.


	11. Chapter 11

Sara didn't want to show it, but she was full of doubts about her newfound relationship with Nick. They'd been dating for a little over a month and while he was constantly telling her that she was beautiful and his kiss could make her forget her name, she had this nagging doubt that she was not really the kind of woman that he wanted to be with. Part of that came from the family that she had grown up in and part of that came from the fact that she had always derived her significance and security from her intellect and having someone focus on something other than that felt foreign. She hadn't told Nick how his doting made her feel because she wasn't sure he would understand, but then one night while they worked a case together, things came to a head as they ran into a woman that Nick had dated several years before, and as Sara watched Nick talking and laughing with her for a few moments, she estimated that this woman was everything that she wasn't and her insecurity began to run rampant.

They were on their way back to the lab to log in evidence and then spend some time together before they went their separate ways to get some sleep. Sara seemed unusually quiet and Nick kept stealing glances at her as he drove. He had known her long enough to know when to give her a little space, but at this moment he wasn't sure that was what she needed. Something else was going on here, but he just wasn't sure what to say.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the lab, the vehicle had barely stopped when Sara jumped out and strode purposely towards the building, leaving Nick to bring the bags of evidence in. He very methodically carried the bags in and logged them into evidence, knowing that Sara was upset and he had a feeling that it had something to do with running into Kira.

He was in love with Sara, there was no doubt about it in his mind, but she seemed to doubt it, but he felt deep down that the reason she doubted the security of his love for her had nothing to do with him and everything to do with something that had happened in her life. As he logged in the last bag of evidence, a smile stole across his face. He was a patient man, and he could wait as long as it took for her to be sure, but for the moment he needed to do some damage control and reassure her so that she could let go of her doubts.

He found her sitting on the bench that ran the length of the locker room with her locker door open. He sat down next to her and nudged her elbow with his. "Hey." He grinned at her.

She glanced up and smiled. She loved looking at that face of his. No one had a smile quite like Nick Stokes and every time he directed it at her she felt her heart skip a beat. "Hey." She leaned over and softly kissed him, letting out a sigh as she pulled away. The more time she spent with him the more she felt pieces of her heart slipping out of her control and into his. The closer they got, the more risky this whole venture felt to her; she was afraid that he'd wake up and realize that he'd made a mistake and leave her, just like every other man she'd ever cared for had.

Nick looked at her with concern. "You ok? You left pretty quick." He knew that she had to tell him what was going on in her time, but he also needed to let her know that he was ready to listen.

"I'm sorry." She glanced at her hands which she held in her lap. "I just needed a few minutes alone." She knew she owed Nick more of an explanation than that, but she didn't want to do it there in the middle of the locker room.

Nick's voice was soft and reassuring. "Look, I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I just want you to know that I'm in love with you. I don't want any other woman but you, Sar."

Sara felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards. He had this endearing habit of being able to read her like a book and at times she found it annoying, especially when she wanted to hide how she was feeling. Being transparent with someone was scary as hell. "I know you love me." She looked over at him, her eyes pleading with him. "Can we get out of here and just spend some time alone?"

Nick grinned at her and whispered. "Yeah." He leaned over and kissed her. He looked into her eyes as he pulled away. "Are we still going over to my place?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Later they sat on Nick's couch finishing up the remnants of breakfast as they watched TV. Sara had been quiet the entire time they had been eating and as she set her plate on the coffee table, Nick decided to test the waters to see if she'd tell him what was bothering her. He set his plate down and then reached over and caressed her cheek, a smile spreading across his face. "You are so beautiful to me."

Sara stiffened at his touch and let out a sigh. She wanted so desperately to believe his words and she felt her emotions getting the best of her.

Nick furrowed his brow. "Hey, what's wrong?" He looked truly worried about her.

She couldn't quite look at him. "This is all so overwhelming and I'm just not used to being told that I'm beautiful." She braced herself for his response.

Nick pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

Sara's voice began to waver. "I just keep thinking that you're going to wake up and realize that you want someone else and I don't know if I could handle that." She let out a sniffle as she began to realize what she was saying.

Nick kissed the top of her head. "I don't want anyone else."

"I mean your parents have been married for so long and your family sounds so nice and my family is this huge disaster and you don't know anything about them. I'm afraid of what you'd think if you met them." Sara sounded small and vulnerable.

Nick pulled her a little closer. "Hey, part of who you are is because of who they are and I love you; all of you. I'm not going to stop loving you because you think your parents are a little wacko."

"Completely wacko is more like it." Sara quipped with a snort.

Nick let out a chuckle. "Sar, I've known you for a long time, and the longer I know you the more I love you."

She relaxed against him and a smile began to spread across her face as she came to a satisfying realization. A realization that explained why she had felt so riddled with doubt for the last few weeks. She didn't want to lose Nick, and the closer they got, the more it would hurt if something went wrong. She pulled away and looked up at him. "Nick?"

"Yeah?" He looked down at her as he held her in his arms as they sat on the couch, he just couldn't get over how beautiful she looked to him and it made him smile.

She didn't waver, she simply smiled. "I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Spring 2005:**

There was still a slight chill in the air as the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom along the Mall in Washington, DC. Nick and Sara had flown in the night before to attend a forensics convention and they were trying to squeeze in a little sight seeing before that evening's seminar on 'Multi-jurisdictional Coordination in Profiling and Tracking of Serial Killers'. Several of the key players that had nabbed the DC area sniper were discussing the case with a special emphasis on ballistics evidence.

Sara let out a contented sigh as they neared the Jefferson Memorial.

Nick glanced over at her and raised a curious eyebrow, giving her hand a squeeze. "Tired?"

She shook her head and smiled at him as they walked over and then sat down on the steps and looked out over the Tidal Basin. "No, just happy." She found herself leaning her head on Nick's shoulder wishing that this moment with him would never end. Their nights off together were a rare event, but despite that their relationship had blossomed and after the rumors and speculation had died down at the lab people began to see a very transformed Sara Sidle. So when Grissom had offered to send them both to this convention in DC, they'd jumped at the opportunity, both from a professional standpoint and a personal one.

"I'm happy too." Nick closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of Sara's hair. He was thoroughly enjoying getting to spend this much time with her. He had never felt about any woman the way he felt about Sara. He smiled as he recalled their walk through the Natural History Museum earlier that day. They had woven through the displays of gems and jewels and when they had come to the Hope Diamond, Nick found himself getting emotional. He had glanced over at Sara as he felt her squeeze his hand and that's when he had noticed that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears at the emotion that was welling up in her. He'd leaned over and softly kissed her, hoping that she knew that she was far more valuable to him than any gem.

Sara's thoughts seemed to be in the same place as Nick's. "I wonder how many women never hear that they're beautiful."

Nick squeezed her hand. "I love you."

She smiled. "I know. I love you too." She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "I never really felt beautiful until I met you." She radiated beauty. The confidence that she'd gained from Nick constantly building her up made her shine from the inside out.

"You always have been." Nick replied with a smile, leaning over and kissing her softly.

They sat there like that for a while, trading soft gentle kisses and just enjoying being close as the sun began to dip in the sky casting a golden hue against the marble columns of the Jefferson Memorial.

Nick pulled away slightly and rested his forehead against hers. "Looks like the sun's starting to go down."

Sara let out a sigh. "I guess we should go so we can get dinner before the opening seminar tonight." She started to stand, but Nick caught her hand in his and stopped her.

"Not just yet." He smiled at her and then gestured out towards the Tidal Basin. "We've still got a few minutes to enjoy this."

Sara settled herself next to him again smiling at their intertwined fingers. "I always liked DC, but it never occurred to me that it could be so romantic until I came here with you."

"You said that about Dallas at Christmas too." Nick teased with a grin.

She let out a soft chuckle. "I guess it just depends on who you're with." She was glad that she'd fallen in love with Nick. She hadn't expected it, but it had turned out to be one of the most life altering events in her life.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they watched the late afternoon sun bathe the Washington Monument in a golden light across the basin.

Finally Nick cleared his throat. "Can I ask you something?" For some reason, he felt a nervous sensation in his gut unlike no other he'd ever had.

Sara looked at him a bit quizzically. "You know you can ask me anything." As they had gotten closer they had shared more and more with each other. The night that Nick had told her that he'd been molested when he was nine had given her the courage to reveal her troubled family life and some of the baggage that she carried as a result. She trusted him implicitly and couldn't think of any question that she wouldn't answer.

"Good." Nick smiled and then leaned over and kissed the end of her nose.

Sara let out a soft giggle. "So what did you want to ask me? Because if it's about that cookie recipe, you can forget it, I'm sworn to secrecy." She had baked cookies a few times and had brought them into the lab, and Nick had raved about them so much that he'd even asked her for the recipe. She wasn't about to tell him that it was from the back of the chocolate chip bag.

"It's just something that I've been wondering about for a while." Nick hoped he looked calm, cool and collected because he felt anything but as he gathered his courage.

Sara furrowed her brow as she looked at him. "What is it?"

He smiled at her earnestly. "I love you." He took a deep breath and continued. "I've never loved anyone the way that I love you."

Sara felt a tiny pang of doubt, this sure as hell didn't sound like a break up speech, but she didn't want to let her mind wander to where he might be going with this. "I love you too." Her voice was a whisper.

"Maybe this is too soon, I don't know. All I know is that I love you and I don't ever want to lose you." He fumbled with something in his pocket for a moment.

Sara's eyes began to widen as the realization of exactly where he was going with this hit her. She felt an overwhelming wave of emotion roll over her as she saw Nick pull out a small blue velvet box. When he pivoted on the steps and knelt in front of her, Sara tried to stifle a sniffle.

Nick flipped the box open to reveal a diamond solitaire ring. He grinned at her as he felt tears stinging his eyes. "I love you so much, and I wanted to ask you if you would spend the rest of your life with me. I would be so honored if you would become my wife. Would you marry me, Sara?"

Sara couldn't say anything for a long moment as she regarded him, and then with tears streaming down her face she nodded her voice barely a whisper. "Yes." She had never imagined that she could be this happy and as Nick slipped the ring onto her finger she realized that he had been the one man that had seen her true value and he'd helped her to see that she could love and be loved in return.

_**The End**_

**Author's Note:** The response to the first chapter of this story really took me by surprise and it really made me think about how many women really don't get to hear that they're beautiful, and just how special they are. I truly appreciate each and every person who reads my stories. There are many other things that you could be doing with your spare time and yet, you're here reading this now. Thank you. I hope that you'll take the time today to tell someone close to you today how much they mean to you because each day is a gift and you may not get another.

Special thanks to Mel for giving me honest feedback on this story, perhaps one of these days I can tap your medical knowledge instead of your fluff juice. And to all of the Snickers out there, this story is for you.


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